US Navy’s newest destroyer set for July 15 commissioning

The U.S. Navy announced that its newest Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, the future USS John Finn (DDG 113) is set to be commissioned on July 15 at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam’s Pier Kilo 10.

Adm. Harry Harris, Jr., commander of U.S. Pacific Command, will deliver the commissioning ceremony’s principal address. Laura Stavridis, the wife of retired Adm. James Stavridis, the former Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, will serve as sponsor of the ship.

Cmdr. Michael Wagner, a native of Minnesota, is the commanding officer of the ship and leads the core crew of 350 officers and enlisted personnel. The 9,140-ton Finn was built by Huntington Ingalls Industries in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

The ship is 509 feet in length, has a beam of 66 feet, and a navigational draft of 31 feet. The ship uses four LM2500 GE Marine Gas Turbines and two propellers to speeds up to 31 knots.

The ship’s namesake, John Finn, is a Medal of Honor recipient who Adm. Chester Nimitz said displayed “magnificent courage in the face of almost certain death” during the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.